𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 || 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳

maybe it can fly, maybe it can't

fyi this is not factually accurate! i know that mclaren was pretty slow until around silverstone last year, but not in this universe :)

this is a scheduled chapter, might not be super active on wattpad rn (see announcement on my profile)
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What Oscar soon found out was that McLaren was capable of impressive turnarounds.

The first race of the season was slow. Incredibly slow. There was nothing to settle with Lando because there was just nowhere to go. The team came into the weekend with zero points and left with precisely... zero points.

The second race did not spell the same story. With some minor upgrades, both drivers found their way into the points, Lando taking 5th and Oscar 8th. There had been a moment that Lando had walked up to Oscar, throwing his arm around the Aussie in a sort of hug. Oscar wasn't expecting it, chuckling slightly as Lando congratulated him on first points. It was a milestone, but Oscar wasn't all too impressed yet. He still needed to prove himself.

He also knew it was fake, after what he had heard weeks ago with Lando on the phone, how Oscar made it impossible to be nice. For the record, Lando had snarked at him first, Oscar had merely replied since he wasn't about to let Lando get away with saying whatever the hell he wanted and thinking he could walk all over Oscar just because he was a rookie. How would it look if said rookie outdid the guy who was in his fifth season with the team, the Aussie mused.

Hence, he wasn't about to fall for Lando's superficial acts of kindness so easily. It was for the cameras, Oscar knew that. He wouldn't be surprised if Lando hated him, not that he had a reason to but simply because he felt threatened by a teammate that could keep up. Daniel had left Lando so much room to breathe, barely keeping up with much less challenging the Brit. Oscar was Australian just like Daniel, but Lando couldn't expect the same lack of competence from him compared to what Daniel had shown.

They moved to Australia itself, Oscar's homeland. And between the two McLaren drivers, Lando had unsurprisingly received more of the attention at the first two races, at least from the fans. This time it was Oscar's turn, he'd get to watch Lando's smug little face go from said smugness to having to watch from the shadows as Oscar got all the attention. It wasn't the first time he had dealt like someone with the Brit: a fan favorite, showy relationship, a bit too confident for his own good. And just as Oscar had put people into their place before, he wasn't sure where Lando got off thinking he was the exception.

"You weren't so used to the insane fans a few weeks ago," Lando remarked. "What makes you think it'll be any better at your home race?"

"You're acting like you weren't shy at first when you got into Formula One. You wouldn't have developed social skills for years if Carlos hadn't taken you under his wing the way he did," Oscar fired back.

"I was also 19 Oscar, you act like you had social skills at all when you were that age."

"More than you, at least I could string a sentence together in front of a camera without stuttering and making it seem like I had memorized a script." With that, Oscar stepped away from the McLaren hospitality, signing a few autographs and taking photos with some fans, enjoying a laugh with them and smirking at Lando as he walked away, having just shown the Brit that his social skills were in fact, likely more adept than Lando's himself.

Oscar rolled his eyes as he left. If Lando wanted to act like a toddler, Oscar would happily watch him embarrass himself as he did. He was always no-nonsense and Formula One, though he was undeniably still a bit starstruck, wouldn't alter one of his core personality traits.

The Aussie also was patient. He knew how to not let people see he was irritated, he knew how to work with them even if they were annoying him to death, as Lando was starting to. He knew how to call people out and get away with it, ensuring they knew he was annoyed but not making a scene about it.